HAGERSTOWN, MD (WUSA) -- It's a busy day for these men as they prepare 7,000 pounds of turkey for 40,000 people. The turkeys will be served to homeless and low income families in Baltimore at the annual Bea Gaddy dinner.

"This is another opportunity to show that we aren't the sum of our bad deeds, show that we are more than just what we used to do," says Kenneth Crockett, an inmate at the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown.

Crockett says a great deal has changed for him after serving 9 years of a prison sentence. This is a yearly tradition he looks forward to as does Kevin Chase.

"I'm from Baltimore and it does help a little bit to know you're giving back to the community, and I do know Bea Gaddy, so it definitely feels good to give something back," says Kevin Chase, another inmate.

Officials say in a way it's a rare chance to right a wrong.

"With the turkeys that are going out, that they're processing, they're going to a very good cause with public," says Wayne Webb, MICH's warden. "It gives the inmates a sense of worth for what they're doing."

And inmates say whether its from behind bars or after their release they want to do more.

"It's just a small token of what I wish we could really do," says Crockett. "I wish we could feed them more than just this one day."